Mining for Gold By: Charlie Wojcik 2/22/11 It was early summer in Alaska with blue skies and snow covered mountain tops. I woke up to hearing my mom. “Breakfast,” she hollered. “Vinny wake up your brother,” she called. I woke up and shook my brother’s arm. Once he began to wake up I stood up and stretched. When my feet hit the hard cold floors of the cabin it sent chills up my spine. I looked at the picture of my dad and blinked back the tears. He died but my mom would never tell me how or where. I went into the small bathroom and looked in the mirror. I grabbed the wooden comb and pushed it through my thick, black hair. When I looked into the mirror at my blue eyes to make sure my mom could not tell that I almost cried at the sight of the picture of my dad. I walked into the kitchen and smelled the sweet smell of syrup. I also smelled fresh made pancakes that made my mouth water. I looked at the wooden table and wooden chairs. My dad made almost everything in this house that is wood including the house itself. I grabbed my chair and looked at the clock. It was Friday and at 11:00. My brother Justin and I slept very late just as usual. Once my brother walked into the room he sat down next to me. My mom set down the pancakes. “Dig in. Only four per person though,” she whispered trying not to wake us up too much. I didn’t need to be told twice. I grabbed my fork and knife. I poured gallons of syrup all over the four pancakes. I wolfed them down in around five minutes. I ate so fast I got the hic-ups. I sat there watching Justin eat his pancakes. Then I looked over at mom. We stared into each others blue eyes. I realized something. I was as tall as or maybe even taller than her. She was five foot five and I was five foot six. She was eating her pancakes as slow as she wanted to. I knew why she was sad. We were running low on money to keep the house from being in foreclosure. She did not tell Justin yet but she told me. We would have bought a new house that was less money every month but we could leave this house since my dad built it. My mom could not get a job because she never got her college degree in school since she did not have enough money to continue. When he died in his will was his old map, and few hundred dollars. The map was very old and crumpled up. There was a small red X on the map. I had seen pirate movies when I was little, and I knew X led to treasure. When I went to the X all there was, was a collapsed mine. I am thirteen years old and my brother is ten. We finish breakfast and there was nothing to do later. I went outside with Justin following. Last year was the last year I went to school since we were out of money. I wondered around the house a little. I examined the river that bordered one side of our house. I wanted to help save the house but I didn’t know how. I was very stressed out and wanted to help. I ran inside without my mom seeing and hid the map under my shirt. I was going to go to the mine one last time and try to find what was so important about this mine that it was specific in his will that it went to us. I ran out of sight from my mom and pulled out the map. I remember when I got home the day I went to the mine my mom started crying and pleaded I would never go back so, I never went back. I knew where the mine was and got there in a couple minutes. The wind was blowing in my face as I ran down the trail. The ground crunched and cracked from the permafrost as I stepped on it. Then I heard my brother. “Justin, why are you going to the mine you know mom does not like it when we come here,” he yelled from a distance. I stopped and let him catch up. “Why did you follow me then?” I asked. “I followed because I am bored and this place is exciting,” he assumed as he strutted towards me. “You can stay as long as you don’t do anything stupid, which means don’t enter the mine,” I said as I examined the scenery. “Fine,” he replied and he did a salute. I walked around trying to figure out where the X really wanted me to go. Then I heard thumping sounds. My brother got bored and decided to start throwing rocks. “Stop,” I yelled. “I am bored,” he said as he threw his last rock. This rock did not make a small thumping noise as it hit the ground. Instead it made a hollow sound as it hit something like wood. I ran over to where the rock fell and started scraping away the grass with my hands. After a minute of scraping I started to hit something like wood. I scrambled to pick up the wood piece. It was a latch to something I have never been to or in before. I tried to pick it up but I could not bare the weight since it was still half of the way covered in dirt and grass. Justin walked over to me. “Want some help?” he asked. “Sure, lift that end up over there,” I replied. Together we lifted the small wood covering out of the ground. Below was a small cave. It was dark and grimy. There were some small spiders that freaked me out and I thought there might be snakes down there. More than anything I hate snakes. I hate the way they move without legs and the way they strangle their prey. I did not want to go down there but I knew I had to. I jumped down without scouting for snakes. Turns out, there was a snake down there but I landed on him. He was hissing but I was not going to lift my size eighth shoe off him. I quickly jumped to give him a less painful death. It made me sad to kill him but I knew if I did not he would bite me and bad things would happen. I grabbed a pile of dirt and put in top of the snake. Then I continued my search before his friends could come eat me. The tunnel was only two feet wide and around five feet long. I had to crouch as I walked because the ceiling was only four feet high. The dirt was shiny with many different types of rock sediments. At the first end there was nothing but a couple shiny nuggets which I immediately picked up, and then put them in the light. They were small only a couple of centimeters across but I knew they were worth allot. I slipped them into my pocket and continued that way. I found the end. The dirt was very loose like someone had been in here before. I took my hand and pressed with all my force. I easily penetrated the dirt wall and out the small whole came a baby walnut sized gold nugget. I went the other end of the tunnel and I found an old latter. I was surprised because it seemed too easy, as if someone set this up. Then it hit me. My dad had made the tunnel and hid all his gold in here. That had to be why he wanted this map to go to us. I don’t know why he did not share it with mom. I think he only shared what was needed the rest he saved for emergencies. There were so many unanswered questions. I grabbed the ladder and put it to the top of the whole. As I climbed out I showed the gold nugget to Justin. “Wow, are there more down there? Can I come down and grab handfuls to show mom? Can I take that gold nugget to mom and tell her I found it?” he asked as he pulled my arm toward the house. “Stop, this is no time for stupid questions. We need to get the rest of the gold out of there. We need to get this gold to the house fast,” I reminded him. “Why?” he asked as he circled me like a turkey buzzard. “Mom never told you but the house is under foreclosure this month, today. She never told you because she thought you would get very upset. Don’t tell her I told you this okay,” I said as we started running to the house. “Mom,” I screamed at the top of my lungs. “What’s the matter,” she yelled back? I ran up to her and showed her the gold nuggets. “Where did you get these?” she asked as she stared into my eyes almost turning red. I told her the whole story about how Justin threw the rock and hit the small wood latch. I also told her how when I pressed against the wall the gold nugget came out. “I think there is more gold down there, allot more,” I assured her. “You know it makes me very upset when you go down there, even if there is gold down there,” she stated. “Mom, please come with me and nothing will happen,” I promised. Before she could tell me no I grabbed her arm and Justin did the same. We dragged her half a mile to the tunnel. I brought a spade shovel with me because I did not want to use my hands. She was starting to cry a little but she cooperated and walked along. When we finally made it to the tunnel I lifted the hatch. Her eyes were full of amazement as I lifted the hatch. I jumped down and immediately started to dig where I had hit the dirt on the end of tunnel. Every time I hit the dirt wall with my shovel the dirt easily slid and gold poured everywhere. “Justin,” I yelled. “Yes bro, what you need?” he asked, poking his head down the hole. “I need you to get garbage bags from the house so I can put the gold into it,” I told him. “Okay, be back in a flash,” he replied as he ran towards the house. I stared up at mom and she was still crying and couldn’t watch me dig because I looked like dad when I was digging. “Mom, how did dad die?” I asked finally after building enough courage. “Your father died here at this mine. That is why I hate it when you come here. I guess your father knew you would find his stash of gold,” she said blinking back more tears. Then Justin came running with garbage bags flailing behind him. He handed me a garbage bag and I started scooping up gold. Bag by bag we were getting richer and richer. We had enough money to pay off for the house forever. My mom still stood above the tunnel in awe of how much gold we found. It was all thanks to our father who we thought just abandoned us with nothing. We had about five bags full of gold. With one last hit of the shovel the tunnel started to shake. It sounded like an earthquake. “Get out of the tunnel, its going to collapse!” she screamed in terror. As fast as we could my brother and I grabbed the five bags of gold and ran as fast as the speed of light. I let my brother go first. All of the sudden my mom pulled me out and the whole tunnel collapsed. “Thanks,” I gasped in fear. “I could never let you die like your father,” she whispered. We still had the gold but the land management was coming for our house and we couldn’t pay them if we weren’t there. We ran still in shock from what had just happened. We ran until we reached the house to see a man in an all black suit with a white tie. He was carrying a brief case which I always thought, means business. My mom shot me and Justin a look and we handed her the gold. She went up to the man and pleaded for one more day, so she could cash the gold in for money. You couldn’t see his eyes because he wore dark glasses but I could tell that he was not happy about giving us another day and then he looked at the gold which could easily pay off the house. “Fine, one more day and after that I take this house unless you can pay it off” he scolded as he got back into his car. “Thank you so much sir, I wont let you down,” my mom promised as she waved goodbye. She pulled the bags over her shoulder and started jogging down the hill. My brother and I exchanged looks and ran after her. When she stopped we were at one of the stores where they buy gold. Our gold was shiny and new even though it had been buried underground for at least ten years. The store she went to was the pawn store. When she took the gold inside the store and opened the bag for all to see, the eyes of the clerk lit up as if turning gold themselves. Gold was at $1,000 an ounce when we brought the gold in. The gold we had weighed in to be around 50 pounds. 50 pounds got us around $800,000. We only needed $200,000 dollars for the house, so now we could have a lot of extra money. Mom could finish her degree in school, I could go to school with my brother, and we can keep the house that our father built with his own hands. The next day my mom paid the man early in the morning. He was surprised we got that much money in one day. People started to question if we robbed the bank but no banks were reported robbed. Once my mom got her degree in school she was able to get a job as a nurse. She made enough money to keep the house without the help of our left over money from the gold. My brother and I were sent back to school. Even though we hated going to school we knew it would be the best thing to do so we don’t end up in this situation again in our adult lives. Now that we had extra money, we were finally able to get out of the dinosaur age and get some technology. I didn’t know it but this normal day turned into a day that changed our lives forever.
Mining for Gold
By: Charlie Wojcik 2/22/11
It was early summer in Alaska with blue skies and snow covered mountain tops. I woke up to hearing my mom. “Breakfast,” she hollered. “Vinny wake up your brother,” she called.
I woke up and shook my brother’s arm. Once he began to wake up I stood up and stretched. When my feet hit the hard cold floors of the cabin it sent chills up my spine. I looked at the picture of my dad and blinked back the tears. He died but my mom would never tell me how or where. I went into the small bathroom and looked in the mirror. I grabbed the wooden comb and pushed it through my thick, black hair. When I looked into the mirror at my blue eyes to make sure my mom could not tell that I almost cried at the sight of the picture of my dad.
I walked into the kitchen and smelled the sweet smell of syrup. I also smelled fresh made pancakes that made my mouth water. I looked at the wooden table and wooden chairs. My dad made almost everything in this house that is wood including the house itself. I grabbed my chair and looked at the clock. It was Friday and at 11:00. My brother Justin and I slept very late just as usual. Once my brother walked into the room he sat down next to me. My mom set down the pancakes. “Dig in. Only four per person though,” she whispered trying not to wake us up too much. I didn’t need to be told twice. I grabbed my fork and knife. I poured gallons of syrup all over the four pancakes. I wolfed them down in around five minutes. I ate so fast I got the hic-ups.
I sat there watching Justin eat his pancakes. Then I looked over at mom. We stared into each others blue eyes. I realized something. I was as tall as or maybe even taller than her. She was five foot five and I was five foot six. She was eating her pancakes as slow as she wanted to. I knew why she was sad. We were running low on money to keep the house from being in foreclosure. She did not tell Justin yet but she told me. We would have bought a new house that was less money every month but we could leave this house since my dad built it. My mom could not get a job because she never got her college degree in school since she did not have enough money to continue.
When he died in his will was his old map, and few hundred dollars. The map was very old and crumpled up. There was a small red X on the map. I had seen pirate movies when I was little, and I knew X led to treasure. When I went to the X all there was, was a collapsed mine.
I am thirteen years old and my brother is ten. We finish breakfast and there was nothing to do later. I went outside with Justin following. Last year was the last year I went to school since we were out of money. I wondered around the house a little. I examined the river that bordered one side of our house. I wanted to help save the house but I didn’t know how. I was very stressed out and wanted to help. I ran inside without my mom seeing and hid the map under my shirt. I was going to go to the mine one last time and try to find what was so important about this mine that it was specific in his will that it went to us.
I ran out of sight from my mom and pulled out the map. I remember when I got home the day I went to the mine my mom started crying and pleaded I would never go back so, I never went back. I knew where the mine was and got there in a couple minutes. The wind was blowing in my face as I ran down the trail. The ground crunched and cracked from the permafrost as I stepped on it. Then I heard my brother. “Justin, why are you going to the mine you know mom does not like it when we come here,” he yelled from a distance. I stopped and let him catch up.
“Why did you follow me then?” I asked.
“I followed because I am bored and this place is exciting,” he assumed as he strutted towards me.
“You can stay as long as you don’t do anything stupid, which means don’t enter the mine,” I said as I examined the scenery.
“Fine,” he replied and he did a salute.
I walked around trying to figure out where the X really wanted me to go. Then I heard thumping sounds. My brother got bored and decided to start throwing rocks.
“Stop,” I yelled.
“I am bored,” he said as he threw his last rock.
This rock did not make a small thumping noise as it hit the ground. Instead it made a hollow sound as it hit something like wood. I ran over to where the rock fell and started scraping away the grass with my hands. After a minute of scraping I started to hit something like wood. I scrambled to pick up the wood piece. It was a latch to something I have never been to or in before. I tried to pick it up but I could not bare the weight since it was still half of the way covered in dirt and grass. Justin walked over to me.
“Want some help?” he asked.
“Sure, lift that end up over there,” I replied.
Together we lifted the small wood covering out of the ground. Below was a small cave. It was dark and grimy.
There were some small spiders that freaked me out and I thought there might be snakes down there. More than anything I hate snakes. I hate the way they move without legs and the way they strangle their prey. I did not want to go down there but I knew I had to. I jumped down without scouting for snakes. Turns out, there was a snake down there but I landed on him. He was hissing but I was not going to lift my size eighth shoe off him. I quickly jumped to give him a less painful death. It made me sad to kill him but I knew if I did not he would bite me and bad things would happen. I grabbed a pile of dirt and put in top of the snake. Then I continued my search before his friends could come eat me.
The tunnel was only two feet wide and around five feet long. I had to crouch as I walked because the ceiling was only four feet high. The dirt was shiny with many different types of rock sediments. At the first end there was nothing but a couple shiny nuggets which I immediately picked up, and then put them in the light. They were small only a couple of centimeters across but I knew they were worth allot. I slipped them into my pocket and continued that way. I found the end. The dirt was very loose like someone had been in here before. I took my hand and pressed with all my force. I easily penetrated the dirt wall and out the small whole came a baby walnut sized gold nugget.
I went the other end of the tunnel and I found an old latter. I was surprised because it seemed too easy, as if someone set this up. Then it hit me. My dad had made the tunnel and hid all his gold in here. That had to be why he wanted this map to go to us. I don’t know why he did not share it with mom. I think he only shared what was needed the rest he saved for emergencies. There were so many unanswered questions. I grabbed the ladder and put it to the top of the whole. As I climbed out I showed the gold nugget to Justin.
“Wow, are there more down there? Can I come down and grab handfuls to show mom? Can I take that gold nugget to mom and tell her I found it?” he asked as he pulled my arm toward the house.
“Stop, this is no time for stupid questions. We need to get the rest of the gold out of there. We need to get this gold to the house fast,” I reminded him.
“Why?” he asked as he circled me like a turkey buzzard.
“Mom never told you but the house is under foreclosure this month, today. She never told you because she thought you would get very upset. Don’t tell her I told you this okay,” I said as we started running to the house.
“Mom,” I screamed at the top of my lungs.
“What’s the matter,” she yelled back?
I ran up to her and showed her the gold nuggets.
“Where did you get these?” she asked as she stared into my eyes almost turning red.
I told her the whole story about how Justin threw the rock and hit the small wood latch. I also told her how when I pressed against the wall the gold nugget came out.
“I think there is more gold down there, allot more,” I assured her.
“You know it makes me very upset when you go down there, even if there is gold down there,” she stated.
“Mom, please come with me and nothing will happen,” I promised.
Before she could tell me no I grabbed her arm and Justin did the same. We dragged her half a mile to the tunnel. I brought a spade shovel with me because I did not want to use my hands. She was starting to cry a little but she cooperated and walked along. When we finally made it to the tunnel I lifted the hatch. Her eyes were full of amazement as I lifted the hatch. I jumped down and immediately started to dig where I had hit the dirt on the end of tunnel. Every time I hit the dirt wall with my shovel the dirt easily slid and gold poured everywhere.
“Justin,” I yelled.
“Yes bro, what you need?” he asked, poking his head down the hole.
“I need you to get garbage bags from the house so I can put the gold into it,” I told him.
“Okay, be back in a flash,” he replied as he ran towards the house.
I stared up at mom and she was still crying and couldn’t watch me dig because I looked like dad when I was digging.
“Mom, how did dad die?” I asked finally after building enough courage.
“Your father died here at this mine. That is why I hate it when you come here. I guess your father knew you would find his stash of gold,” she said blinking back more tears.
Then Justin came running with garbage bags flailing behind him. He handed me a garbage bag and I started scooping up gold. Bag by bag we were getting richer and richer. We had enough money to pay off for the house forever. My mom still stood above the tunnel in awe of how much gold we found. It was all thanks to our father who we thought just abandoned us with nothing. We had about five bags full of gold. With one last hit of the shovel the tunnel started to shake. It sounded like an earthquake.
“Get out of the tunnel, its going to collapse!” she screamed in terror. As fast as we could my brother and I grabbed the five bags of gold and ran as fast as the speed of light. I let my brother go first. All of the sudden my mom pulled me out and the whole tunnel collapsed.
“Thanks,” I gasped in fear.
“I could never let you die like your father,” she whispered. We still had the gold but the land management was coming for our house and we couldn’t pay them if we weren’t there. We ran still in shock from what had just happened. We ran until we reached the house to see a man in an all black suit with a white tie. He was carrying a brief case which I always thought, means business. My mom shot me and Justin a look and we handed her the gold. She went up to the man and pleaded for one more day, so she could cash the gold in for money. You couldn’t see his eyes because he wore dark glasses but I could tell that he was not happy about giving us another day and then he looked at the gold which could easily pay off the house.
“Fine, one more day and after that I take this house unless you can pay it off” he scolded as he got back into his car.
“Thank you so much sir, I wont let you down,” my mom promised as she waved goodbye.
She pulled the bags over her shoulder and started jogging down the hill. My brother and I exchanged looks and ran after her. When she stopped we were at one of the stores where they buy gold. Our gold was shiny and new even though it had been buried underground for at least ten years.
The store she went to was the pawn store. When she took the gold inside the store and opened the bag for all to see, the eyes of the clerk lit up as if turning gold themselves. Gold was at $1,000 an ounce when we brought the gold in. The gold we had weighed in to be around 50 pounds. 50 pounds got us around $800,000. We only needed $200,000 dollars for the house, so now we could have a lot of extra money. Mom could finish her degree in school, I could go to school with my brother, and we can keep the house that our father built with his own hands. The next day my mom paid the man early in the morning. He was surprised we got that much money in one day. People started to question if we robbed the bank but no banks were reported robbed.
Once my mom got her degree in school she was able to get a job as a nurse. She made enough money to keep the house without the help of our left over money from the gold. My brother and I were sent back to school. Even though we hated going to school we knew it would be the best thing to do so we don’t end up in this situation again in our adult lives. Now that we had extra money, we were finally able to get out of the dinosaur age and get some technology. I didn’t know it but this normal day turned into a day that changed our lives forever.